FTC reportedly against Staples-Office Depot deal

December 1, 2015

Regulators investigating the merger from US Federal Trade Commision (FTC) are reportedly “leaning against the deal and are preparing to block it”.

New York Post reported on “two sources” who said that regulators were “wary” of the deal that would create a single nationwide office supplies retail giant serving big corporate and government clients.

One source close to the situation said they are “ramping up for litigation”, while the publication also reported that that agency may delay the decision again to extract more concessions from Staples. As things stand, the FTC has the extended deadline of 8 December to reach a decision on whether or not to halt the deal.

Two of the four commissioners are believed to oppose the deal, and the FTC apparently disapproves of deadlocked votes, which would lead to the agency doing nothing.

If the FTC moves to halt the deal before its European counterpart rules on the merger, it can get a ruling before an in-house administrative law judge instead of suing in federal court, where it has a better chance of winning, a source said.

The European Commission recently extended its decision on the deal to 9 March.

Categories : World Focus

Tags : EU Office Depot Staples